A typical correction process that is performed on image data captured with a digital camera is known. For example, if captured image data is dark image data due to underexposure, a brightness conversion is performed as a correction process to convert the dark image into a brighter image.
However, if the dark image data is image data of a night scene, the image is naturally dark. In some cases, however, a naturally dark image may possibly be erroneously made brighter as if it is an image taken during daytime.
Accordingly, a technology is known for correcting, by using exposure correction level (e.g., exposure shift level of a camera determined by a user), the degree of automatic correction in order to control the correction process performed on image data (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-62993, International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 2004/008754, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-295542). For example, using the exposure shift level of a camera determined by the user, the degree of correction for the image data is controlled, depending on whether it is of an underexposed failed image or a night scene image, by presuming and specifying the conditions under which the image of the subject is captured.
With the technology for controlling the correction process performed on the image data described above, the degree of automatic correction is corrected using an exposure correction level. Accordingly, for example, if a user erroneously determines an exposure correction level or sets an exposure correction level to a fixed state, the conditions under which the image of the subject is captured may not be presumed or specified from the exposure correction level. Thus, it is difficult to determine an appropriate automatic correction level. Because of this, there is a problem in that it is not possible to perform a correction process on image data in a precise manner.